Well we have been back from vacation for a while now and have transitioned back into our regular schedule of commuting, work, and weekend projects. The project we are working on now is finishing the kitchen. We decided not to do the appliances yet and we are happy with the cabinets, so the only thing left to do is the countertops. Part of this involves installing some new cabinets underneath the kitchen window. This will give us more cabinet and counter space, and allowed us to get rid of the shelf that was there and had started to deteriorate.

Installing the new cabinets and removing the shelf became my project this weekend since the countertop people are coming to map the space on Monday. The first part of project went pretty smooth. This involved getting the cabinets screwed together, centered in the space, and installing the spacers to cover any gaps. Once I installed the spacers, I slid the cabinets into place and checked the installation with a level. I was very happy to find that they were level where they sat and I did not even have to use any shims. Then it was on to the shelf.

I am not sure I have expressed this in other posts, but the more work we do on our house, the more stuff we find that is just unbelievably shoddy work. I am not sure why, but I thought the shelf would be different. As I started to remove the shelf I came to realize this was just like some of the other stuff around here. Instead of using nails or screws to install this thing, they decided it would be better to wedge it in and apply as much calk as possible to hold it in place. I took me 30 minutes to get this thing out. Of course I damaged the wall in the process, but that has been patched and I have cut a new window sill to put in place of the mess I pulled out. I will include a picture that shows the cabinets in place. We are going to stain the new window sill so it is not installed yet.

With this done, we are ready for the mapping and a week after that the new countertops. I am really looking forward to replacing the blue laminate countertop that we have now….I just remembered there is one more thing I have to do to complete the kitchen. I forgot my lovely wife want to tile the backsplash. That should be easy and may be another opening for me to get more tools. Did I mention the cabinet installation got me a new table saw. It’s amazing how smoothly things go with the right tools.

Well until next time………

Here we are back from our vacation and I thought it would be a good time note some items to remember for our next trip.

The first thing I think we should do the next time we are planning/booking one of these trips it to make sure we get a first class fight. I know in some cases it will be quite a bit more expensive, but the comfort level achieved by doing this will be well worth it. I am 6’4” and the coach seating on the way there was not comfortable at all, and it was not any different on the way back. We had the opportunity to upgrade on the first leg of the flight and the first class seats on that flight were wonderful.

As far as the resort I don’t think you can go wrong with an all inclusive package, which for this trip is the way we went and I must say it has worked out rather well. All of your meals and drinks are included, and at this place it included the restocking of the mini bar. The only thing I was not fond of with this package was the need to make reservations at certain restaurants here. We found out that they were booked at least 4 days out, so you need to be on the ball and make your reservations as soon as you get here. Other than that the food/drink situation was pretty good and available whenever you were hungry or thirsty.

Once you get to your desired resort make sure you check the room. This was advice given to us and we did not think it would be a problem until we got there. Smoking versus non-smoking is not a room option and our room smelled like a cigar testing facility. In our case there were no rooms available that day, but the next day they moved us to a room that had a normal smell and even had a better view (a view of the ocean makes a big difference). Don’t forget this is a resort and they want to do everything they can to make you happy, and it’s your vacation so you want to be as happy and as comfortable as possible.

One thing that I think is supper important if you are going somewhere that takes you closer to the equator is that the sun is stronger and you will burn if you are not careful. This happened to me and it only took an hour under the sun with no sun block. It was not pretty was not a pleasant experience. I had no idea it would happen so fast, but it can and it did. Make sure you take plenty of sun block and listen to the natives when they tell you “the sun is different here”.

The other thing that is probably just as important as the sun item is the water situation. Do not drink the water. The tour guide person that we talked to the second day we were here told us this and she was not joking. The water was only to be used for bathing and was not to be consumed under any circumstances. Bottled water is provided and its best to use that, even for making tea or coffee. I used it to rinse my mouth the first day after brushing my teeth and she scolded me for doing that. I should have known better from my time in the Navy, but you think that when you are going to such a nice resort the water will be safe. That is not the case and I now know resort or not the water is off limits.

Over all I must say it was a great vacation and I am already looking forward to the next one. The resort we stayed at was the Majestic in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and the package was the Elegance all inclusive package. My lovely wife really enjoyed the beach and I really enjoyed just not having to do anything and I got to sit and read a book which is something I have not been able to do in a long time. The menu choices at the restaurants were somewhat limited, but the buffet was always open and the choices there made it impossible to leave hungry. The Elegance package puts you close to the beach but a ways away from the restaurants so comfy shoes are a must. The service was so good it was almost hard to take as they want to do everything they can to make you as comfortable as possible. You are assigned a butler and he calls your room once a day to see how you are doing and there is a separate concierge service that is there for whatever else you need. All of this made it extremely difficult to go home, but really excited about the next trip.  Here are a couple more pics….

Well here we are in the Dominican Republic and I must say it is pretty nice.  We are at the Majestic Elegance in Punta Cana and the experience so far has been pretty good.  The first couple of days were pretty rough (getting here and getting settled into a room) but now that all of that is done with its pretty cool.  We went with the all inclusive package (drinks and meals are included), which I have learned is the way to go.  Even the mini-bar (water, soda, and 4 bottles of beer) in the room is stocked every day and there are 4 bottles of liquor (vodka, whiskey, rum, and baileys) for you to enjoy.  There are bars and restaurants all over the place that you can take advantage of and plus a buffet arear that is open most of the day.  When we first got here we were worried about the weather because when we checked it called for thundershowers most of the week.  Not sure how the weather forcasters work around here, but so far out of 4 days here it has rained all of one day and that has been it.  To give you an idea as to how bright the sun has been here, I am probably the first black man you will ever see that is as red as a lobster.  The other cool thing about this place is that with the all inclusive package you get a butler.  He calls or comes by to check on you every day to make sure all is good and he will take care of any scheduling or anything else that you need.

Gotta go now and get ready for my next attack on the buffet, but here are some pictures for you to enjoy….

This update is a little late, but I am glad to say the kitchen floor is complete.  The grouting was completed last Friday and the sealing was completed the next night.  After that we got the appliances moved back in and the new moulding in place.  The next thing that needs to happen is the counter tops and some more cabinets.  I will also be installing my first back splash to go along with the new counter top.  That experience will of course be documented and hopefully it will all go well.  I am looking forward to the new cabinets we are going to install underneath the kitchen window.  Currently there is a shelf there that is not very functional.  The plan is to install cabinets and a wine frig in that space to make it a little more useful.  Looking foward to this and I will be sure to post the pics, but before all that my lovely wife and I will be going on our honeymoon.  Stay tuned for the for more info, until next time here are some pics of the finished kitchen floor…..

I think in one of my previous posts I mentioned that my lovely wife decided the living room tile project went so well she wanted the kitchen floor done also.  Well I took this week off from work to try and make that happen.  I started Monday with the demolition of the existing floor which was wood laminate.  Removing that was pretty easy and did not take long at all.  Underneath that was the standard matting that goes along with it.

After removing the matting I was lucky enough to discover not one, but two sheets of linoleum and some sort of leveling plaster.

This was not easy to remove and took the rest of the day to get up.  I now truely hate linoleum and the creators of this evil product.

On Tuesday I was able to start laying the tile and this time it went really smoothly.  I used a different type of tile spacers that are alot more accurate than the standard ones and easier to place.  There were alot more angles to cut and I did not want to box myself in so I did half on Tuesday and finished up on Wednseday.  We decided to let it dry today and on Friday we will do the grouting.  Here are the pictures of what it looks like so far and I will post more pictures of the finished product when get the grouting and sealing done.

Well this will be the final report on the tile project as we are complete with the exception of some touch up work.  The moulding was installed yesterday and the furniture was moved back into the room.  The moulding we used was a finished compsite type that does not need to be painted and is really easy to work with.  The installation went really well and there is something to be said for having the right tools to do the job.  Last year I had installed some moulding with out the use of a miter saw and it did not go very well.  Lesson learned and a miter saw was purchased, along with a nail gun kit.  I also recently pickedup a tool to measure angles which served me well on this project as there was a corner that was not your standard 45 or 22.5 degree angle.  Here are some pictures of the space with the furniture in place, please ignore the mess as clean up is not yet complete.

Well the grouting is done and I must say it looks really good.  We cleaned up our tile work and then vacuumed up the little specs of grout that seemed to be everywhere and them started on the grouting.  We had purchased two grout bags and were going to try and use them, but they really frustrated me so we ditched them.  I started using the regular grouting trowel and that was working like a charm, so I did the grouting and my wife was following along behind me doing clean up.  Once we got started it went really smooth and it only took us about 3 hours to get it done.  We used the pre-mixed grout for this and even though this is more expensive than the other stuff, I would definitely use this again.  This time the manufacturer of the grout got it right with the area coverage.  We used two buckets to complete our area, which was what the directions said it would take.  Now all we have to do is let it dry for 24 hours and then we can put the sealer on.  After that its on the new molding which will complete the project.  Here are pictures of the completed grout work, will update with the molding pics as soon as we are done, enjoy.

Just wanted to give you guys an update on the tile project.  We started looking at tile and realized it was going to be a bit pricier that we thought.  We were going to wait and see if they went down or to see if we could take advantage of a contractors discount, but we decided to bite the bullet now and pick a nice tile and go for it.  After looking long and hard, we found a tile that we liked and it was a good price so we got it.  It took two cars to get it home and nearly broke our backs getting it in the house.  We did not realize that would be the easy part.

The first day was demolition of the carpet, padding, tack strips, and molding.  That was done by noon so we decided to go ahead and start on the tile.  Before I could do that I needed to clean up the floor which required the use of the shop vac that I did not own.  Off to Home Depot for another toy!  Clean up was done by 1:30 and it was on to the tile.  My lovely wife was off to work during this part (how do you think I snuck in the new toy?) so I started and sent pictures as I went to make sure it looked the way she wanted it to.  Luckily I was following her instructions correctly and even got the inserts in the way she wanted. 

I continued on until she got home and together we got about half way done.  I do not know if any of you have ever laid tile before, but it is not fun and at the half way point I was beat.  We both were thankful to call it a night and vowed to finish up the next day.

The next day was another work day for my lovely wife and I did not get back on the tile until 9:30.  Progress started a little slow, but I was making progress and it was nice to see that we did make a good choice in the tile and fact that she wanted it on a diagonal made it look that much better.  Plus as you can see from the pics she wanted this little insert and asked if I could do it.  I was not sure that I could, but I tried and boy did it look good.  Being so poud of my work made it easier to keep going.  By the time my wife got home I was 80% done.  She got changed and we finished up what was left and got the last of the tricky angles knocked out.  Here are some more pictures.

Now its on to the grouting which I am sure will be another adventure.  Here is one tip for those of you who have never done this, but are think about it and want to use the pre-mix tile mortar.  The area coverage estimates that are listed on the bucket are way off.  According to the manufactured two buckets should have been enough to finish our project of 350 square feet.  We went through 5 buckets and this was using the mortar exactly as the directions indicated.  So if you are planning to use this stuff, which I must admit is alot easier than mixing your own, you should at least double the amount they say you will need.  Also,  this was not the easiest thing I have ever done and I was really sore, tired and in need of pain medication after, so take you time and make sure you have time and are physically committed to get something like this done.

I will be sure to let you know how the grouting goes and will post pictures of the finished product.  Wish me luck!

I know its been a long time since I have been on here and I am sorry about that.  Not to much to report this time, but I will do my best to fill you in on what has been going on and even give you a tip on where to get a custom entertainment center of you very own.

My wife and I have still been pretty diligent about going to the gym except for a week off around Thanksgiving and this past week of trying to get ready for Christmas.  I have not done another check in on the scale yet, but I will do one after the holidays and I will let you know where I am at.

One thing that did happen over the holidays was a little electrical spike.  This little devil took out the mother board on my desktop computer.  My first thought was to get another mother board that was an upgrade to the fried one and just install it myself.  Then we went to BJ’s and wouldn’t you know they had a great deal on a really nice laptop.  I had planned on getting a laptop, but I had no Idea I would enjoy it as much as I am enjoying this thing.  My wife had set up a wireless network in our home and with the laptop I can use it where ever I want.  For instance, right now I am laying on the sofa typing this stuff.  We were so impressed with my laptop, we went back to BJ’s and got another on for her.  Of course I had to load all of my music on here and that took a little while.  I am a music freak and I have over 500 cd’s.  But now I have it all on my laptop and its all organized and labeled with the all the album art too.  I have also had to get the hang of this new Vista thing and it is actually pretty neat.  I know there have been some bugs and Microsoft is continually sending out fixes, but I am getting used to it and it looks alot better than the old XP.

I guess I should mention that we are going to embark on a flooring project over the Christmas holiday.  I will have before and after pictures and a full report on the process.  We plan to do the living room floor and tackle the kitchen some time after that.  All we have to do is pick out the tile and we will be good to go.  Stay tuned to see how it goes.

Now about the custom entertainment center.  I do not know if you are like me, but I have alot of home entertainment components which includes, two 400 disc cd changers, a receiver, dvd player, cd recorder, turn table, and the dreaded cable box (so want to get rid of comcast, but stuck for now).  I needed an entertainment center that would house all of this stuff and hold a 50″ tv.  A friend of mine from work actually built one that actually had the room for all my stuff and a drawer for the turntable.  All I had to do was give him the measurements that I needed for each compartment and he build an absolutely beautiful piece of furniture.  I am going to try an post some pictures of it on here.  He also built a subwoofer stand for me that actually matches the entertainment center.  Let me know what you think and if you want I can hook you up with the builder.  I think I got the pictures in and you should be able to click here….

There has been a lot of stuff going on since my last post and to be honest I cannot think of one bad thing that has happened.  To start with, I did my first monthly weigh in and I have lost 6 pounds.  This may not seem like alot, but my goal is to lose 5 pounds a month.  If I keep this up, by the time we go on our honeymoon (May I think), I will have lost 35 pounds.  That would be great for my health and an outstanding excuse to eat as much as I want while on vacation.

Since we are on the topic of my health, I think I mentioned before that I quit smoking a year and a half ago.  Well who would have thought that would make such a difference in my work outs.  My wife and I have been really good about going to the gym for the past three months, and I must say my work outs have been outstanding.  I was dissapointed at first because I was not lifting as much as I used to and I thought it would take me a long time to get back to that point.  My body has responded really well to me not smoking and I am already back to lifting what I used to.  It is amazing how much better you feel when all the oxygen actually goes where its supposed to.

Lets get off the health stuff (starting to get hungry and there is junk food downstairs) and talk about tires.  My wife recently told me that we needed to get new tires on our cars.  I had been procrastinating and we did not order them (gotta luv Tire Rack) until this past weekend.  We were going to have them installed this weekend, but a flat on my wife’s car forced us to do it earlier this week.  I had no idea the tires on my car were so bad.  The difference the new tires made is like night and day.  The ride is so much quieter and the passenger seat no longer shakes when I am on the interstate.

On to the last good thing, which just happens to be online bill payment through your checking account.  I had no idea how easy and convenient this is.  Once again my lovely wife had been telling me about this and once again my procrastination prevented me from looking into it.  I tried it this week with my checking account and what a joy this system is.  You can set this thing up to pay any account whenever you want and it even has reminders that you can set up so that you don’t forget that all important car payment.  Ay yes the joys of modern technology.  Computers, the internet, microwaves, food…..gotta go leftovers calling!